Pat Riley

The Godfather of NBA success as player, coach, and executive.

Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also served as the team's head coach from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2008.

Quick Facts

Position: President
Team: Miami Heat
League: NBA
Born: 20 March 1945
Birthplace: Rome, New York, U.S.
High school: Linton (Schenectady, New York)
College: Kentucky (1964–1967)
Draft round: 1

Lore & Background

Often referred to as 'the Godfather', Riley is regarded as one of the greatest NBA figures of all time both as a coach and executive. He has won five NBA championships as a head coach, four with the Los Angeles Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s and one with the Heat in 2006. Riley is a nine-time NBA champion across his tenures as a player (1972), assistant coach (1980), head coach (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2006), and executive (2012, 2013). Since the start of his NBA career through 2023, Riley has reached 17 NBA finals across six different decades, making approximately 22.1 percent of all NBA Finals as a player, coach, or executive.

Reader's Guide

Riley was named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1989–90, 1992–93 and 1996–97, as head coach of the Lakers, New York Knicks and Heat, respectively). He was head coach of an NBA All-Star Game team nine times: eight times with the Western Conference team (1982, 1983, 1985–1990, all as head coach of the Lakers) and once with the Eastern team (1993, as head coach of the Knicks). In 1996, he was named one of the 10 Greatest Coaches in NBA history. In 2008, Riley was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. He received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the NBA Coaches Association on June 20, 2012.

Did You Know?

He was selected by the San Diego Rockets as the seventh overall pick of the 1967 NBA draft.
Riley was also drafted as a wide receiver by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round of the 1967 NFL/AFL draft, despite not having played college football.
He trademarked the phrase 'three-peat' through his corporate entity, Riles & Co.